Is Bronchitis Contagious?

0Shares

-There are some doubts about whether bronchitis is contagious or not. Yes it is but not always.

Types of bronchitis

There are two types of bronchitis: acute and chronic.

Acute bronchitis refers to sudden occurrence of illness, which usually lasts for a few weeks and rarely for several months. It usually begins with cold symptoms:

-runny nose

-sore throat

– fever and

-cough.

As time passes, the cough intensifies and becomes productive with secretion of greater or lesser amount of mucus and saliva. If the cough does not pass after three weeks, it is possible it is chronic bronchitis.

Chronic bronchitis is common in long-term smokers. If chronic cough is present in young children, there is a possibility they suffer from asthma.

Given that bronchitis is mainly caused by viruses- that trigger cold, it can be concluded that bronchitis is equally contagious. However, if the body temperature doesn’t increase, patients can perform their daily tasks, using some general measures to prevent the spread of infection:

– Cover the mouth appropriately when coughing (involving the use of the elbow, not the hand because with hand shaking germs are easily transmitted from person to person, so this is an important preventive measure.)